Aylmer seeks to unfold the secrets of the natural world, and not only know the mechanism of its power, but in fact harness it and become a creator himself. In short, he's guilty of what Hawthorne sees as two problems in the scientific world around him: the desire to play God, and a blinding faith in science.

What were Aylmer's real motives?

His real motives were to rid Georgiana of her imperfections to make her perfect, given that the birthmark represented human imperfection. The obvious would be to make the birthmark that he dislikes greatly on his wife's face disappear.

What does Aylmer represent?

In other words, Aylmer interprets the hand as a sign of the death that inevitably awaits all human beings. His unwillingness to accept death is yet another indication of his pride and presumption. He tries to set himself as a kind of demi-god, able to eliminate imperfection and defeat death.

What was Aylmer obsessed with?

Aylmer is an accomplished scientist, and Georgiana's husband. Although he has achieved many impressive scientific feats, he has also often failed to accomplish what he aimed to. He becomes completely obsessed with Georgiana's birthmark and the possibility of its removal.

Who is the villain in the birthmark?

If Aylmer is the villain of the story, Georgiana is the heroine. She acts as society says she should, trusting her husband absolutely, and her only reward for her obedience and deference is death.

10 Times Science Played God

31 related questions found

Did Aylmer truly love Georgiana?

Throughout the story, Aylmer proves that his love for her is unaccepting, and on the other hand Georgiana shows a kind of admiring love that he cannot comprehend. She welcomes everything about him and in return all she gets is a husband who hates the very existence of her birthmark that is placed upon her cheek.

Why did Aylmer kiss Georgiana's birthmark?

Her unblemished right cheek represents the ideal of perfection that he is fixated on. ... Aylmer is thrilled that Georgiana wants him to remove the birthmark, which is why he kisses her, but it is a kiss that shows he cannot ever love her wholly unless and until she meets his ideal of perfection.

What was Aylmers first love?

We know these things about Aylmer from the beginning of the story: that his love for science rivals his love for Georgiana, and he has devoted his entire life to scientific inquiry.

What does Aylmer desire most strongly?

What does Aylmer desire most strongly? Aylmer seeks to unfold the secrets of the natural world, and not only know the mechanism of its power, but in fact harness it and become a creator himself.

How does Aylmer try to get rid of the birthmark?

Aylmer remembers dreaming that he had removed the birthmark with a knife, plunging down until he had reached his wife's heart, which he decided to cut out. Georgiana says that she will risk her life to have the birthmark erased. Thrilled, Aylmer agrees to try.

What kind of character is Aylmer?

Aylmer is an intellectual run amok, a man whose mind has overpowered his sense of decency. An incredibly skilled scientist, he has made many exciting discoveries about the physical world. His inquiries into the spiritual world, however, tend to be more disturbing.

What does the word eminent suggest about Aylmer?

The former—of which Hawthorne's protagonist is an "eminent"—was the ancestor to modern science and hence to medicine. We soon learn that this eminent's name is Aylmer, which suggests the alchemy and sorcery that characterized natural philosophy in the centuries before it became modern science, long before the 1700s.

When did Aylmer make his greatest discoveries?

When did Aylmer make his greatest discoveries? When he was a young man, “during his toilsome youth.” 32.

What does Aylmer now realize about himself?

What does Aylmer now realize about himself? He realizes that his mind controls him and he would go very far to make himself at peace. How does Georgiana feel about the removal of the birthmark? She feels that she should get rid of it or they should kill her.

Who has no desire to perfect Georgiana?

Aylmer grows to detest Georgiana's birthmark, shaped like a tiny hand in the center of the left side her face, because he believes it mars her otherwise perfect beauty: No, dearest Georgiana, you came so nearly perfect from the hand of Nature that this slightest possible defect, which we hesitate...

What is Aylmer obsessed with that causes him to pursue what he does?

The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne is centered around Aylmer, a mad scientist, and the birthmark on his wife's, Georgiana, face. His obsession with perfection drives him to create an elixir that ends up serving its purpose and more.

Why does Aylmer want to change his wife's appearance?

Other than being a vain jerk who wants a "perfect" wife, why is Aylmer trying to rid Georgiana of the birthmark? He wants to remove it, because he thinks that the birthmark is nature's way of showing Georgiana's mortality and necessary humanity. ...

What is the moral of the birthmark?

Throughout the story, he is determined to get rid of the offending birthmark, regardless of her wishes. ... The moral to the story, then, is that a man cannot play God or attempt to alter nature; in addition, seeking perfection is a dangerous and deadly goal.

Why does Aylmer work so hard to fake his confidence regarding the procedure?

Why does Aylmer work so hard to fake his confidence regarding the procedure? When Georgiana is first hanging out in the boudoir, Aylmer tells her of a healing solution he has that will make freckles disappear. This won't work on her, however, he says, because it is merely superficial.

Why is Aylmer so obsessed with perfecting Georgiana?

Aylmer loves Georgiana, but he cannot stand this one aspect of her that falls short of perfection. ... Aylmer becomes so obsessed with making Georgiana absolutely perfect that her one supposed imperfection comes to blind him to everything else good about her.

What is the birthmark about by Nathaniel Hawthorne?

Hawthorne also uses Aylmer and the hand-shaped birthmark as symbols of this conflict and its resolution. It's a story that reminds us of the power of nature and warns us that some things are better left alone, symbolized by Georgiana's life fading away along with the birthmark.

Who is Georgiana in the birthmark?

Georgiana is Aylmer's wife and the subject of his experimentation. Although she is very beautiful and much admired by men, she has a small, reddish, hand-shaped birthmark on her left cheek. Its visual prominence depends on the paleness or blush of the surrounding cheek at any given moment.

Why does Georgiana agree to the removal of the birthmark?

Why does Georgiana agree to the removal of the birthmark? Georgiana lets Aylmer attempt to remove the birthmark, despite the terrible danger, because she loves her husband so much and he is so troubled by the mark.

Can you have two birthmarks?

This type of birthmark may occur at any time from birth through early childhood. They may become larger in size but often fade. Some children have more than one café au lait spot. If your child has several, they may also have a rare medical condition, called neurofibromatosis.

What does Georgiana's birthmark symbolize?

Georgiana's birthmark symbolizes mortality. According to the narrator, every living thing is flawed in some way, nature's way of reminding us that every living thing eventually dies. The hand-shaped mark on Georgiana's cheek is the one blemish on an otherwise perfect being, a blemish that marks her as mortal.